– Hello! At first, please, tell us about your current project (s). What
are you working on?
I’m currently working with Swiss band Defaced for a new look for them, and on October 16th I will be doing a Facebook live video with Red Bull energy drink company about Metal logos. Usually though, my clients are bands that are becoming established and not as recognizable
– Our readers would like to know about you little more than the kind
of information that they can find online. About your childhood.
Where are you grew up?
I grew up in California and Cincinnati, Ohio
– How did you come to metal music and metal art?
When I was young, I liked Michael Jackson and Genesis, but I turned 9 in autumn of 1991, and then I got cassettes of Nirvana’s Nevermind and Metallica’s black album that just came out and it started me off. Soon I was into Megadeth, and then Iron Maiden & Judas Priest, Helloween, King Diamond, etc with the help of my older brother, and then it became a deep and passionate fandom of all things heavy, and just music in general.
– The question about influences. What brings you to this way?
I am always drawn to anything with a lot of order, internal logic, and patterns, no matter the style or presentation. That applies to music as well as visual art
– Once upon a time…you took a pencil for the first time to create the
metal-logo. It was a visualization of your imagination or you
copied the logos of the heroes of the metal scene at that time?
Back in the 90’s with taping cd’s, you needed to have a hand drawn logo on the cassette liner, and then in high school drawing my own logos for fictitious bands became my distractions during class & homework
– How would you describe your own style? What are the key
elements in your works?
Much of my work can be described as thick bold letters with a striking shape, and with little dead space around the letters, meaning the letters fit into the empty areas a letter would normally have. Examples of this are thrash logos of the 80’s; they are usually tightly packed. I have taken that tightly packed style of thrash logos from the 80’s and brought it into death metal and black metal styles that have become popular looks for metal bands today
– Tell, please, how do you work with logo? How do you
communicate with the band and then … begin to draw?
Once the client contacts me, we talk about the style they want, and then we can sort out payment, and I try something rough, and see what the client thinks, and we can make it right if the style isn’t exactly what the client wants. Customer’s needs should come first!
– How do you work? Paper with a pen, graphic programmes…?
I started out with pen & paper of course when I was young, but once I went professional, it made more sense to draw digitally. It is basically the same process as drawing on paper; similar to how recording an album on tape is essentially the same as recording digitally, just different tools. There are purists of course who think computers are an inauthentic way of making art.
– What is about your schedule. Are you very busy? How many
orders you receive?
I usually have about 10-20 clients on my to-do list steadily. I try to keep everyone in rotation so no one waits too long, and I can have a sketch ready to look at a few days after payment.
– How much is the logo from Christopher Horst. And what it
depends on the price?
I have logo options starting at $120, you can find more info at horst-art.com
– How long do you work on design? A few minutes or month? what
it depends on?
The majority of the work is done on the first day, in about an hour, but there is usually a lot of time after that to finely tune everything and or make edits. I do like to be able to step away from something before finishing it, so my perspective isn’t exhausted. I usually come up with better ideas for a logo a few days later, and can quickly redraw everything for the new idea.
– Do you draw only logos? In Facebook I saw many of your
drawings and illustrations? What is this?
I illustrate digitally as well, and can do photo manipulation as well. I also make fonts that you can install on your computer
– Logo and cover art are must to correlate or may live their own
lives – what do you think?
a logo can be a different style from the cover art, but as long as there is a logic to their differences it could be harmonious. I can’t think of an example, but essentially any should be possible as long as it is handled carefully.
– Is symmetry very important when you are working on a logo?
symmetry is important for a classic metal look, and it is very fun to work with! Although asymmetrical logos are really fun to work with as well, but for different reasons
– What the key points should have logo to be recognizable and
successful?
You should be able to read it quickly, and depending on the genre if you’re not meant to read it quickly, there should at least not be any letters that look like different letters. Like for example if there’s a spike that connects the bottom legs of a capital R, then it’s no longer an R, it’s a B!
– Are there schools, direction in this kind of design? Scandinavian,
European, American – or it’s all nonsense?
I think there are ideas that may originate from certain people or certain regions, but ultimately it is about the sharing and mixing of those ideas to create new styles of art as well as music
– What do you keep in your mind making a logo for concrete styles.
What we should to see in death-metal logo and what and not to see
on logo for power-metal band, for example.
That is something to be mindful of, you don’t want to put pentagrams in any logo that isn’t fitting, you shouldn’t have a bunch of thorns and spikes in a power metal logo. In certain genres, you can do just about anything, for example, a death metal band could have just about any style of logo and it would not detract
– In your opinion, what is the biggest mistake in the work on the
logo – which should not appear in it?
Like I mentioned before, I would say it is to just not make it too confusing, remember you’re drawing letters, don’t let symmetry become more important than the design
– It is not enough just to design the logo, you need to keep in mind
how it will be look at the merchandising products, in different size.
What is important here?
This is more of a merch design issue, as long as the art file is high enough resolution, any art can be strategically sized and positioned on clothing or whatever. There are times when some band’s merch makes the logo look weird or small, it happens, but it shouldn’t be blamed on the logo. The logo should be allowed to be what it needs to be, that is more important than one piece of merch
– Is every name of band may have a cool logo? Or…there are words
you should avoid when naming the band, keeping in mind the
creation of a cool logo?
This is definitely an issue depending on the style the client wants, if there needs to be symmetry And the last letter is a capital L, it can throw things off because of the line at the bottom, and the lack of a right vertical stroke. So it pays to think and plan for a moment before drawing.
– What in your opinion are the modern trends in metal design, know-
how or something like that in working on a logo?
I’ve seen a couple techniques I’ve used catch on, like thick letters and V shaped profiles, but I think mostly people just want extreme AND legible for potential fans
– What is more difficult – to create a logo from the beginning, from
the clear blank or redo existing logo?
I wouldn’t say difficult, but sometimes it can be easier to see how I would do a logo that a band shows me, and I just see it how I would do it instantly, and then just need to do some tedium to make it happen and make a few smaller decisions. I love both processes though
– What from your work most significant for you?
I have perfected many existing styles like thrash & death metal, but I feel I created a new style of logo with the tech death style you see with Archspire & The Zenith Passage, which was a signature blend of styles I had always loved like Voivod, Megadeth & old sci fi fonts
– What is more important – music for recognition of logo or cool
logo automatically brings fame to the band?
I think it can work both ways. I think there can be bands that are serious and get a serious logo and then they become even more serious- I love it when that happens, and I can help. But there are definitely bands who focus on the brand side of things before getting studio time; it is unique for everyone
– Can you name some of colleagues’ work what you really like?
I really enjoy the logo work of Mark Riddick, Christophe Szpajdel, Steve Crow to name a few
– Do you remember all your logos, What are you doing for not to
drawing the same logos?
I do remember all my logos and if I see something that is too familiar looking when I’m drawing, I’ll try to redesign it. But at the same time, people also want your work for what they’ve seen before, and that’s what they expect. So there is a balance to be mindful of, but ultimately I do try to evolve my styles
– What needs to happen for you to say no for the band that ask you
to create the logo? Beliefs…or something?
It hasn’t come up yet but if there was a band that wanted me to do something racist, I would not do it. I do not care about religious persuasion though, I’ll turn the cross right side up or upside down if you want me to!
– Do you have the desire to create the logo for band yourself,
without interest from the band or label?
There have been some occasions where I would have liked to do something for certain bands, like or I remember Shadows Fall had a logo contest a while back, I wanted to try some things out, but ultimately my current clients come first and I try not to let myself get too distracted with side projects
– Are you freelancer or have constant contract with some label?
I am just a freelancer currently, but I would be interested if there was any labels that needed a logo guy.
– What do you know about Russian metal-scene and bands?
I know of a couple Russian bands, but I wouldn’t say I’m familiar with the scene
– Did you work with Russian bands by the logo? what can you say
about their demands.
I am sure I have worked with Russian bands in the past, but none are coming to mind, or band location might not have come up. I did a logo for Ukrainian band Purefilth earlier this year, and they were great to work with!
– What must happen to you when you decide to come in Russia to
show your logos for our metalheads?
Haha, well, I’ll need something to mix with all the vodka
– Sorry for my shamelessness =) But, maybe you will draw a little
picture for our anniversary issue of magazine?
No problem, here is a quick logo I have put together that you can feature in the issue or use for whatever you like, let me know what you think, thanks & cheers!